“Manolo Blahnik Mary Janes?! I thought these were an urban shoe myth!”
You’ve seen that iconic Sex and the City episode. The one where Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) pays a visit to the Vogue fashion closet and weasels her way toward the stiletto-filled shoe section, only to narrow her gaze onto a pair of black Manolo Mary Janes. “Do you know what these are,” she exclaims excitedly to her editor, Julian. “These are authentic patent leather! If these don’t fit, so help me…I’m gonna wear them anyway.” It’s no wonder why Carrie absolutely lost her shit over the chic shoes, while trying to cram her feet into them: For 30 years, they have remained one of Manolo’s hottest (and hardest-to-get) heels.
Dubbed the Campari, Manolo Blahnik first introduced the elegant style back in 1994, designing the sleek Mary Janes as a follow-up to the more opulent and ornate shoe styles of the late ’80s and early ’90s. “I had gone through a bit of a baroque period, and wanted something to counter that, so I went minimalist,” says Blahnik. Featuring a pointed pump and Mary Jane strap across the foot, they were first featured in an August 1994 Vogue editorial shot by Arthur Elgort, starring Shalom Harlow. It didn’t take long for fashion lovers to take notice: An It shoe was born.
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, August 1994